Matt Frewer Biography

Matt Frewer made his acting debut in the 1983 thriller film ‘The Lords of Discipline’. In the early 1980s, he appeared as Max Headroom, ‘The World's first computer-generated television host’, which was an AI-based character, known for his wit and stuttering, electronic voice. Max Headroom originally appeared in the British television film ‘Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future’ in 1985. Following its massive popularity, the character got its own spinoff music video program ‘The Max Headroom Show’ in the same year. Frewer essayed the same role in the US television series ‘Max Headroom’ in 1987, in addition to a series of television commercials and music videos. He slowly abandoned the character of Max Headroom in favor of roles that did not require computer enhancements.

He played iconic roles in many feature films like ‘The Fourth Protocol’ (1987), ‘Honey I Shrunk the Kids’ (1989), ‘Hercules’ (1997), ‘Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb’ (2014) and Steven Spielberg's ‘The BFG’ (2016). He appeared in several adaptations of Stephen King’s stories, such as ‘The Stand’ (1994), ‘Quicksilver Highway’ (1997), ‘Riding the Bullet’ (2004), ‘Desperation’ (2006) and ‘Bag of Bones’ (2011). Frewer has worked in more Stephen King adaptations than any other actor. He was also very popular in the animation industry for his voice acting and went on to work in animation films like ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Hercules’. Frewer was also the voice of several important characters in animated series like ‘Incredible Hulk’ (1996), ‘Iron Man’ (1993) and ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ (1993). He reprised his role of Max Headroom in the 2015 movie ‘Pixels’. In 2018, he appeared in Netflix shows like ‘Altered Carbon’ and ‘The Order’. In the same year, he played the role of Reverend Kellergan in the miniseries ‘The truth about Harry Quebert Affair’, which is based on a novel of the same name by Swiss author Joel Dicker.

Matt Frewer was born in Washington, D.C. on January 4, 1958 to Royal Canadian Navy Officer Frederick Charlesley Frewer and his wife Gillian Anne. At the time of his birth, his father was stationed at the Canadian embassy in the US. He has an elder brother called Frederick Barry Frewer, who also served in the Canadian Navy. Frewer was raised in Victoria, British Columbia and Peterborough, Ontario. He graduated from ‘Lakefield College School’ and then attended the ‘Queens College’, Kingston in Ontario. His first love was sports, and he served as a quarterback in his high school’s football team. A serious injury while playing hockey at the age of 15 forced him to give up his sports dreams. He then decided to study acting and enrolled in the ‘Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’, Bristol, where he studied for three-year and graduated in 1980. While in England, he married English Actress Amanda Hillwood on November 10, 1984. Hillwood is known for her roles on the BBC TV show ‘A Very Peculiar Practice’ and ITV’s series ‘Inspector Morse’. The couple welcomed a daughter called Scout Frewer in 1996. Frewer’s hobbies include reading, writing short stories and screenplays and playing sports. He co-authored a children's book series called ‘The Fez Brothers’ along with his wife.